What Not/to Feed

[Barry P]

Hi
I have a Betta (Crown Tail) in a tank with 4 guppies, 4 ottos, 4 Zebra Loach, and 2 Platy Fry. He ate 1 platy fry within an hour of putting him in the tank ( 1 month ago) but since then has been very docile, until yesterday. I found a chunk out of one of my guppies tails. I was sold this Betta by my LFS who said there shouldnt be any problems with him in the tank. I tried putting him in a seperate container but he looked so sad and i thought it very cruel. My question is, Will he ever settle down or will he always be at the rest of the fish, is there a certain food he will eat that the rest wont so that he is not hungry for his fellow tank mates...Please advise.

 

[Joby]

Its generally best to keep bettas on their own as they can be nipped and bullied by other quicker tank mates and also they could turn on them in return as you have already found. Is it possible to put him in his own tank next to the other one so he can see them but not hurt them? I try and keep all my guys within eyesight of eachother or they can get depressed and mope around.

He will struggle to eat in the community tank as bettas take time to eat their food, almost stalking it before eating and by that time the others could have snaffled it from under his nose! Anything you put in there for him will almost certainly be eaten by the others which is another good reason for getting him his own pad

 

[ral]

Well, most fish will always eat fry.

A guppy looks like a betta, so you can expect a bit of nipping, well that may be putting it mildly. How big is the tank?

 

[Barry P]

Its a 60L Tank (15 Gallon), he generally seems happy and the guppies never cower or run from him, some even rub off him every now and again. I would never have knowingly placed all these fish in the one tank but i was misinformed. I was told that if he goes into a tank on his own it will be very high maintenance, is this true?

If i was in theory to put the betta in his own tank, what could i replace him with. I have lots of small worker fish but i would like something to look at and enjoy....a feature fish!!!!

 

[ral]

With a tank that size, I doubt the betta and the guppy could keep out of each others way... but why not give them a few more days (I am going to get flamed for this advice).

 

[Barry P]

Normally i would heed the advice of the experts but a few people have said that it is possible for them to live together in harmony. I learned a new fact today also, that Zebra Loachs have a habit of biting and nipping guppies in the first few days of being introduced, so it may after all not even be the betta who is doing it..i just assumed it was him.?